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DIA millage renewal bill not included in Senate-approved bankruptcy package

A bill that would have prevented the Detroit Institute of Arts from seeking another millage was not a part of the package of bills passed by the Senate late Tuesday.

Those bills, now before Gov. Rick Snyder for his signature, will provide $195 million in state funding, adding to about $369.5 million from 13 foundations and $100 million from the DIA to help shore up Detroit pensions, while spinning off the DIA into an independent nonprofit.

According to an update circulated by state advocacy group ArtServe Michigan, the Senate didn’t even take up HB 5571, which would have prevented the DIA from seeking renewal of a 10-year millage approved by voters in 2012.

ArtServe and arts and cultural association CultureSource last week rallied supporters to speak out against HB 5571.

Whether or not the DIA will go for another millage “is a question we simply can’t answer at this point,” said COO AnneMarie Erickson.

“Our goal continues to be to raise sufficient endowment within the 10-year period (by 2022) so we don’t have to go for another millage,” she said.

“However we are now committed to raise $100 million for the ‘Grand Bargain,’ which we are delighted to do.”

Approved by voters in Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties in 2012, the millage generates about $23 million of the DIA’s annual budget, which is $31 million this year.